Rabbi Froman Loved Everyone, Without Making Distinctions

Attendees at the funeral of Rabbi Menachem Froman describe him as a man who tried to build bridges and find a common language with Arabs.

By Yoni Kempinski

First Publish: 3/6/2013, 5:13 AM

Rabbi Menachem Froman's funeral

Yoni Kempinski

Thousands of people attended the funeral on Tuesday of Rabbi Menachem Froman, who passed away Monday at the age of 68 following a three-year battle with cancer.

The funeral took place in Rabbi Froman’s hometown of Tekoa in Gush Etzion. Religious and political leaders were among those at the procession. Among them were Minister Moshe Yaalon, MK Motti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi), Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky, and Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl.

Arutz Sheva was at the funeral and spoke to some of those who attended. They described Rabbi Froman as a man who loved peace, who sought to build bridges with Arabs and who loved everyone without distinctions

“Rav Menachem was somebody who, as a Jew, loved his people, loved his land, loved humanity - without making distinctions,” Yossi, a mourner at the funeral, told Arutz Sheva.

“He was a man of the messianic age,” he added. “He saw something of the redemption and tried to bring it into an unredeemed reality.”

David, another attendee at the funeral, said, “He was very charismatic. He was very very well loved by everybody.”

“He had such strong faith. Even when he was really ill you could see it in his face. It was shining right in his face,” he added.

Eliyahu, who attended the funeral, said that Rabbi Froman saw no contradiction between his great love for the whole land of Israel and his attempts to build bridges and nurture co-existence with Palestinian Authority Arabs.

“For him it was all one thing. The love for Eretz Yisrael pushed him to build a bridge for peacemaking and for healing and reconciliation with the Muslims, to find a language within religion where the two sons of Abraham could live together as one family. He was a leader and a pioneer in that vision,” said Eliyahu.